Can someone here mask a list of mods that are worthwhile and which are not.

Also interested in zanash's mods where he bypassed (what ever he bypassed lol) to get an unbalanced signal to output to standard consumer level amps. Wondering if that also takes care of the output levels.

Also, are these mods someone with no experience could undertake or am I better trying to find someone to do them for me.

yes I've taken the unbalanced signal from the opamp after the dac via large pio caps ....this improves the sound lifting to a higher level. [my preamp doesn't have balanced inputs ] So I felt there was no need to run the signal through the extra stages.

hello zanash.

did you take the sinal before or after the first opamp?

i have take it after the first opamp from the 47uf decoupling caps and i have ground loops problems.

There is quite a bit of discussion regarding the Burson discrete op amp with mixed results. Save yourself some money and try a higher quality op amp IC first. Have a look at what others have already done in this regard.

I use a stock SRC for upsampling and send digital to a modified DEQ. The DEQ is easier to mod by stealing the analog outputs of the dac because it has a ribbon cable which can be cut into. definitely get someone to swap the dac chip to an AK4396 which will drop in with no problems. And then consider running direct out from the ribbons to a good transformer or cap to block the dc. No ultrasonic filters required because of the ultra low out of band noise spectrum of the top of the line AKM dacs. This eliminates four or five opamps doing dif amp summing, active filter, mute, phase splitter and servo swinging output and some electrolytic signal coupling caps. I sold my Sowter transformers as I prefer a stack of Dayton foil caps. I also have a slight preference for the 4395 but it requires an additional 5v regulator whereas the 4396 runs well on the stock 3.3v making it a drop in. As long as you are good at soldering with a 10x microscope strapped to your eye. Plus, if you start out with a DEQ you have a digital eq that once you try it you will never want to live with out it.